@michalis&nbsp; Reminds me of where we are headed as a planet when the sun heats up. I don't know if you thought of it consciously or not, but your painting is prophetic and based in scientific fact of how our earth will look just before/as it gets sucked into the sun. Don't mean to scare you, but, after all, it is Halloween! Summer

@michalis very well painted! Always remember to mix a little brown to the black before painting! Light is never black and white.

Thanks Kaustav! I' ve made the black mixing ultramarine blue and burnt umber but It seems that I used more blue than brown. At some point I thought of doing what you say but I decided to go on as it is. Next time...

@michalis&nbsp; Reminds me of where we are headed as a planet when the sun heats up. I don't know if you thought of it consciously or not, but your painting is prophetic and based in scientific fact of how our earth will look just before/as it gets sucked into the sun. Don't mean to scare you, but, after all, it is Halloween! Summer

Summer I am not scared I was not thinking about the concept you' re talking about. I was listening to a band named ULVER and their album ''Shadows of the sun''. The lyrics are similar to what you described. I then begun to search for ''doom'' photos and found this one to paint. This is my painting's story..

Kaustav, ncould you expand on adding brown to black. I've started to use a lot of black but I'm not happy about pure black. I was always told it leached the colour from every other colour near to it.

Hi @nagantino, in DMP Mark advocates mixing and using what is known as a chromatic black. A chromatic black does not contain any actual black pigment. So, say, using ultramarine blue and burnt umber will give you a black colour without any black pigment, also the temperature of the black can be shifted to either a warm black or a cool black by varying the ratio of UMB or BU.I have found that the quality of paint can really influence the richness of the blacks I can mix. Better quality paint (high pigment load, less fillers) = rich blacks.

The composition is excellent. The brushwork is rough, which can be a good thing but not here. It is a very masculine, confrontational image. The modelling of the forms is not there, the image is two dimensional with no 3D. This has been exacerbated by the brushwork. I'd call this an illustration, like a poster, an art school project, rather than fine art.

Really like the subject matter on this one. Is this painting at all reference to astrology/ the zodiac?Or was placing the rams skull on top of the human skull a just a coincidence/ composition play? On a personal note one critique I would give is the signature and date are to big and obvious and distract from the piece, imo large lettering like that would work and be kinda cool if it were placed in the back ground and there was some sort of esoteric text in it.

Willis
- Thanx for the comment, the painting is not a reference to astrology nor a composition play. I paint it from a photo I found on the internet. I do not know what the photographer was thinking but I found the composition really good.

The composition is excellent. The brushwork is rough, which can be a good thing but not here. It is a very masculine, confrontational image. The modelling of the forms is not there, the image is two dimensional with no 3D. This has been exacerbated by the brushwork. I'd call this an illustration, like a poster, an art school project, rather than fine art.

Thanx for your comment/critique Kevin, I do not understand your critique fully but I appreciate it. This is the photo reference I painted from:

In the photo, look at the human skull, see how it has a very definite roundness. This is mainly in the modeling of the lights. Also in the curved horn. There is a highlight line running parallel with the curve of the horn just to the right of centre. This helps to accentuate the tapered cylinder form of the horn and is absent in your painting. I think this is because you've focused into the small shapes too soon and not thought enough about the big shapes and turning the form before going for small details. Overall I do like your painting, but you can do better.

In the photo, look at the human skull, see how it has a very definite roundness. This is mainly in the modeling of the lights. Also in the curved horn. There is a highlight line running parallel with the curve of the horn just to the right of centre. This helps to accentuate the tapered cylinder form of the horn and is absent in your painting. I think this is because you've focused into the small shapes too soon and not thought enough about the big shapes and turning the form before going for small details. Overall I do like your painting, but you can do better.

Now I understand much better what you mean and I agree with you Thanx for your help and encouragement. It was a very ''quick'' painting, it took me about 2 hours to finish. When I feel I do not have much time, I tend to ''hurry up'' and that's not good for painting.